- 15 - have an “adequate” opportunity to challenge the IRS’s proof of claim, because they did not have access to records that had been seized by the IRS during its criminal investigation of Mrs. Kendricks, and never returned to them, is to no avail. With respect to the burden of proof in connection with tax claims in bankruptcy cases, the rule is that, in the absence of modification expressed in the Bankruptcy Code, the burden of proof with respect to a tax claim in bankruptcy remains where the substantive tax law puts it. Raleigh v. Ill. Dept. of Revenue, 530 U.S. 15, 26 (2000). The Bankruptcy Code makes no provision for altering the burden of proof with respect to a tax claim, id. at 22, and, in general, where the Commissioner has determined a deficiency in tax, the taxpayer bears the burden of proving facts that show that determination to be incorrect, see Rule 142. Welch v. Helvering, 290 U.S. 111, 115 (1933); Feldman v. Commissioner, 20 F.3d 1128, 1132 (11th Cir. 1994), affg. T.C. Memo. 1990-532. Under the Federal Rules of Evidence, “the inability to produce a record which is unintentionally lost, 5(...continued) suit) or the bankruptcy court (where the action is dismissed without resolving the IRS’s claims). See Aguirre v. Commissioner, 117 T.C. 324, 327 (2001). But cf. Montgomery v. Commissioner, 122 T.C. 1, 9 (2004) (sec. 6330(c)(2)(B) permitted taxpayers to challenge the existence or amount of the tax liability reported on their original income tax return because they had not received a notice of deficiency for the year in question and they had not otherwise had an opportunity to dispute the tax liability in question).Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011